Fire-escape.



VA/ A L. KATZ.

PIPE ESCAPE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 191i.

1,050,546. APatented @11.14.1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

OI llllll )NIMH -L/ al Arm/away.

. L. KATZ.

PIRE ESCAPE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. z2, 1911.

Patented J an. 14, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

LUIS KATZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Speceaton of Letters Patent.

Application led September 22, 1911.

Patented Jan. 14, 1913. Serial No. 650,672.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known thatl I, LUIS KATZ, a citizen of the United States, residingat the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFire-Escapes, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXactspecification.

My invention relates to fire escapes and the same has for its object toprovide a simple, l eliicient and reliable apparatus adapted to besecured upon the walls of buildings and other structures adjacent to thewindows thereof.

Further, said invention has for its object to provide a fire escapecomprising a plurality of suitable supports upon which is disposed anendless conveyer provided with means for supporting a person whiledescending from an upper portion of a building or other structure.

Further, said invention has for its object to provide an endless ladderin the form of a conveyer having a plurality of hinged supportspivotally arranged thereon, and adapted to support a person, and at thesame time provide means for enabling the person to hold and steadyhimself during the descent of the ladder or conveyer.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outhereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, my inventionconsists in the novel details of construction and in the cornbination,connection and arrange-ment of parts hereinafter more fully described,and then pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings showing one illustrative embodiment of theinvention and in which the same reference numeral refers to similarparts in the several figures. Figure l is a view in side elevation ofthe device; Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation; Fig. 3 is a sectionalview taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectionalview taken through the center of one of the drums, and Fig. 5 is aperspective view of one of the idrums.

Referring to the drawing, the frame work of the device is shown asconsisting of four upright channel irons, 10, 10, which are held inposition by means of suitable horizontal supporting members 11, 11,securedy to the wall 12 of the building` in any suitable Inanner, as bymeans of bolts 13. These supporting members l1, 11 are attached to thechannel irons 10, 10, and it will, of course, be understood that thenumber of supporting members depends on the height of the building towhich the device is attached. The uprights 10, l0 are so positioned atthe front and rear of the frame that the channeled portions face oneanother, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

Adjacent to the upper and lower ends of the frame work and rotatablysupported in brackets 14, 14 secured to the building, are transverseshafts 15, 15 carrying rollers 16, 16 which are of polygonal crosssection, being provided with flat faces. In the embodiment shown, eachroller is square being provided with four faces. The faces of therollers are provided alternately with grooves 17 and projections 18, thelatter being provided with transverse recesses 19, in order that thefaces of the roller will conform to the links of the endless travelingchain 20.

The chain is composed of alternately arranged bar links 21 andspaced-sided links 22 pivotally connected to one another. In theembodiment shown, the spaced-sided links are hexagonal. Intermediate theends of the links 22, and supported by the side portions thereof, aretransverse rods 23, upon which supporting brackets 24 are pvotallymounted. The ends of the transverse rods 23 extend outwardly beyond thesides of the links 22 and engage within the channeled portions of theuprights 10, thereby guiding the chain during its travel. rlheseoutwardly extending ends are preferably threaded, as shown, for thereception of nuts 25 which serve to retain the bracket-s 24 in position.Each of the brackets is provided with a transverse bar 26 which,together with the bracket 24 and rod 23, form a platform upon which aperson may stand when using the device. In o-rder to maintain thebracket 24 in a horizontal position on the descending portion of thechain, it is provided adjacent its inner ends with inwardly eX- tendinglugs 27 which engage the side portions of the link 22, as clearly shownin Fig. 3. These lugs are preferably formed by bending inwardly aportion of the metal of which, the'bracket' 24 ismade. On ,the ascendingportion of the chain, the brackets 24 will drop and assume a positionsuch as is shown at the left in Fig. 4.

The device is so positioned relatively to the building that theplat-forms may be reached from the windows of the buiding,

or from balconies which may be provided on its outer wall. In case offire, persons in the building may step upon the platforms carried by thechain and grasp the chain with their hands to prevent them from falling.The device is so constructed that the weight of one person standing onone of the platforms will cause the chain to travel in such a mannerthat the person will descend. As the chain thus travels, the drums 16will rotate and the parts are so arranged that the bar links 21 willengage the grooves 17 and the projections 18 will engage within thespaced-sided links 22, the rods 23 being received within the recesses19. Due to this co-action between the drums and the links of the chain,lateral movement of the latter is prevented, and the links aremaintained in alinement with one another.

In order to prevent too rapid movement of the chain, occasioned by anumber of people using the device at one time, a brake is provided whichconsists of a disk 28, provided with serrations or teeth 29, preferablyTformed in its periphery, and this disk is rigidly fixed to the shaft 15bearing the lower drum 16. A lever 30 has its inner end pivotallymounted on a support 31 and is provided at its outer end with a handle32. Intermediate the point of support and the handle, the lever isprovided with aprojection 33 shaped to correspond with the serrations orteeth 29 on the disk 28, so that, as the disk rotates,

Having described this invention in connectio-n with the illustrativeembodiment thereof, to the details of which disclosure,

the invention is not of course to be limited, what is claimed as new andwhat is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is set forth in theappended claim In a fire escape, in combination, a frame, upper andlower drums rotatably supported thereby, an endless traveling chainengaging said drums and composed of bar and spaced sided links andperson supporting means carried by said spaced sided links, said drumsbeing provided with fiat chain engaging surfaces, certain of saidsurfaces being provided with a groove to receive said bar links therein,and the others of said surfaces being provided with projections toextend within said spaced sided links, substantially as specified.

Signed at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York,this 31st day of August, nineteen hundred and eleven.

LUIS KATZ.

lVitnesses CONRAD A. DIETERICH, Louis B. HAsBRoUGH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

